Unmanned aerial vehicles are continuing to increase in use. For example, unmanned aerial vehicles are often used for surveillance. While there are many beneficial uses of unmanned aerial vehicles, they also have many drawbacks. For example, unmanned aerial vehicles are often powered by batteries, which limit flight distances according to available battery life. In some implementations, larger batteries may be utilized, although such may increase the expense of operation and add weight, which requires additional energy during flight. Similarly, any other items or features that are added to or carried by the unmanned aerial vehicles (e.g., additional equipment for the unmanned aerial vehicles, other items transported by the unmanned aerial vehicles, etc.), add weight that requires additional energy during flight and thus further limits battery life. In addition, when battery levels are low or mechanical issues arise, unmanned aerial vehicles may be forced to land in unplanned areas where damage may occur and/or which may complicate the retrieval of the unmanned aerial vehicles.
While implementations are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the implementations are not limited to the examples or drawings described. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit implementations to the particular form disclosed but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean “including, but not limited to.”